From evil to upheaval and beyond: How the ‘axis’ metaphor shaped modern geopolitics

By: Andrew Latham, Macalester College, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: December 8, 2025

Words: 971

Last Updated: 1 month ago

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By Andrew Latham, Macalester College

The plural of “axis” is “axes,” apparently. And foreign policy types with axes to grind have been making good use of this other meaning, too.

Earlier this year, academic Walter Russell Mead warned in his Wall Street Journal column of the threat from the “axis of revisionist powers” – namely China, Russia, North Korea and Iran.

The same grouping has gone by other names, too: the “axis of upheaval” …

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